Democracy Dies in a Day

Throughline

NPR

History, Documentary, Society & Culture

4.6 • 16.4K Ratings

🗓️ 20 November 2025

⏱️ 53 minutes

🔗️ Recording | iTunes | RSS

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Summary

How quickly can a government fall? Chile was once one of Latin America's oldest democracies, but that all changed in a matter of hours after a military coup on September 11, 1973. Some supported the coup; many did not. But for the next 17 years, all Chileans lived in the grip of brutal authoritarian rule. Today on the show, the story of a democracy’s collapse and rebirth, told through the eyes of four people who lived through it.

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Transcript

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0:00.0	This message comes from Ear Hustle, a Radiotopia podcast.
0:03.7	Check out recent episodes which delve into the juvenile prison system.
0:07.5	Ear Hustle is available anywhere you get your podcasts.
0:11.6	At 6 in the morning, I remember that somebody called, saying that the Navy is coming.
0:22.6	I was told if it happens would be very violent.
0:27.6	So take care, protect yourself, try to leave your houses.
0:33.6	My name is Sergio Bitar.
0:36.6	Sergio has been a lot of things, a civil engineer, an author, and at the time he's speaking about, he's a government worker.
0:44.9	We'll get to all that later.
0:46.9	Right now, Sergio needs to make a decision.
0:50.2	He has to leave his house.
0:52.1	But where should he go?
0:53.7	Where is even safe anymore?
1:00.0	Should I go to the palace?
1:02.3	Governmental Palace?
1:04.8	It was completely blocked.
1:07.3	The only information he could get was by tuning into the radio.
1:11.3	So he flipped it on in the car as he headed for a friend's house on the outskirts of the city.
1:15.9	The president of Chile, Salvador Allende, came on the radio.
1:28.9	I will not resign, he says.
1:36.3	I will pay with my life for the loyalty of the people.
1:40.4	The seed we planted in the dignified conscience of thousands and thousands of Chileans will not be shriveled forever.
	...

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